WH: We Weren't Looking for an Ebola Expert to be Czar

During Friday’s White House Press Briefing, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest argued that new Ebola czar Ron Klain was qualified for the position despite his lack of a healthcare background because the White House was not looking for an Ebola expert to fill the position.

Earnest said that the president “wanted somebody who could serve in a coordinating function,” and that “what we were looking for is not an Ebola expert, but rather an implementation expert.”

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He touted Klain’s experience implementing the stimulus and the act’s success, arguing that its economic results “speak for themselves.”

Earnest added that “ultimately, what we’re looking for here is an implementation expert, and when it came to implementing the Recovery Act, that was successful…the Recovery Act itself exceeded expectations in terms of the timeframe in which it was implemented,” and that the stimulus’ implementation was “performed with unprecedented transparency.”